By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI—The N2.5 billion Aladinma Shopping Mall Complex, initiated and completed through public/private partnership, PPP, arrangement, has been commissioned by Governor Ikedi Ohakim.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Governor Ohakim said he was elated that his 1992 dream as Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism had been realized as governor of the state.

“As a commissioner, I came up with a 10-point project in 1992, which would have revolutionized the state and possibly the South East geo-political zone. This shopping plaza complex was one of them,” Ohakim said.

Noting that “a people who do not plan for tomorrow have already planned to fail”, the governor also explained that there would be about five shopping complexes in Owerri municipality.

He recalled with grief that although three ring roads were originally planned for the state, no previous administration thought it wise to impliment the plan, adding that apart from commencing the road projects, the construction of fly-over bridges to compliment the ring roads had started.

The governor lamented that Ndigbo took delight in developing other lands instead of theirs, pointing out that there was no single private establishment in Imo State that was owned by either a Yoruba or Hausa man.
Earlier in his address, the Executive Chairman of Bauhaus International Limited, Dr. Victor C. Onukwugha, said his company intended to invest a minimum of N5 billion in Owerri in the next two years.

“We call on all serious investors, most especially those from Imo State, to heed the clarion call of Governor Ohakim, by coming to Imo to invest in the real sector of the economy”, Onukwugha pleaded.